For better and for worsted. Gender, ethnicity, and class in the construction of scale: Lawrence, Massachusetts, 1920-1939

What do we mean by "the local scale"? In this project I suggest that the local scale is constantly constructed by an active spatial politics, active spatial economics, and active spatial social organization that are in turn created by the everyday level of interactions and daily practices of social actors. These processes are inherently affected by the context of the place, by the characteristics of and relations between human actors, and by larger-scale trends and events. This study uses the example of a woolen and worsted manufacturing city, Lawrence, Massachusetts, during the 1920s and 1930s to understand the construction of the local during a time of economic crisis, the reorganization of mass production and employment, shifts in immigrant communities, and the changes brought on by federal-level policies of the New Deal. I use a combined set of quantitative and qualitative data sources including census data, a resident survey of City Directories, and the words of workers themselves as found in oral history interviews. The social relations of gender and ethnicity in the textile mills' implementation of flexible production strategies; in the division of labor; in household-level strategies for dealing with economic uncertainty; and in power struggles between workers, households, ethnic communities and employers are central to this work. Further, the effects of gender, ethnicity, and class on local politics are examined as part of a commitment to a broader interpretation of that which is "political", including public and private acts of protest, struggle, and resistance. The primary underlying theme of this research is that workers, families, and ethnic groups play active roles in shaping the local conditions of work, power, and community through everyday interactions and daily practices. I suggest that by focusing on the coming together of dynamic spatial processes, relations, and identities, the nature and construction of the local scale can be better understood within a geographic and historic context.